Reviews by Scoats:

A very delicous, reasonably priced dark lager. It starts off with a nice sweetness that segeues into a restrained but noticable hoppiness for a wonderfully balanced, full tasting beer. I don't think they could make this beer any better. This is probably one of the best values out there.

More User Reviews:

Saranac Black Forest brewed by Matt brewing Company with an ABV of 5.5% This brew pours out a dark brown color with a nice off white head. It put you in the mind of black coffee. The smell is rich with sweetness and some grains. The taste is sweet and smooth but rich. There is a lot going on in this brew. There is nothing overpowering in this brew. Black Forest has a nice balance to it. The sweetness in this brew is just right. The mouthfeel is smooth and rich. Matt Brewing company did a nice job with this one. Overall I'm giving this 4.5 out 5. I would buy this brew again.

Pours black but with a few red tints thrown in there with a light slightly off-white head,not much aroma to it slight chocolate and fruit.Taste is pretty lively and fruity with a light roasted nut flavor as well.Well a better than average brew but nothing to write home about here.

This is the most flavorful lager I have ever tasted. It's dark yet very easy to drink. It's sweet, but not yucky sweet (like Saranac's Caramel Porter). It's dark but not heavy. This is my favorite Saranac beer. Lately my buddies and I have been keeping six packs of this in our refrigerator in case of emergencies.

A- Pours an ultra dark amber opaque fluid that produces a small but lasting heead dropping to a thin froth leaving rings of lacing on the glass.

S- Sweet dried plums and raisins are upfront with light malts and hops in the back.

T- Taste is one of a kind. First is a toasted malt kick of vanilla beans, plums and raisins. Has a malted barley run as well. Hops are noted with light lemony hits in the flavor on the backbone. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy with a small carbonated spritz to allow a easy drinking experience.

D- 2 of 3 excellent drinking beers from Saranac so far. I'd put a bit of these in my fridge if i had a good price and availibility.

A: Black with short head of about 1/4" or so. Light brown in color and dissipated fast. Little to no lacing.

S: Smells malty but not overly so; there is a spicy hint of anise or something that is very vague on the nose. Whatever it is, it smells pretty good!

T&M: For a schwarzbier, I was anticipating something a little bit sweeter but was pleasantly surprised by how well balanced this one is. You still get a bit of the dark molasses notes without the cloying sweetness. I'm not sure what the bittering agent is in here, but I assume it is a well matched grouping of hops. Carbonation is light but persistent. The finish is relatively short but the linger of mild hop bitterness goes on for a while. Nice.

D: I like being surprised and this was a good one. Easy to drink and different enough that you want to keep tasting it to determine all of the flavors in the complexity. Good weight without being to heavy, great balance, and a decent ABV. I like it.

Nearly black in color with a transparent red body. Off-white head bordering on tan in color which disappeared quickly. Smell is of toasted, sweet malts with some chocolate characters. Again I pick up a common aroma Ive detected in all of the Saranac brews that I just cant seem to place. Its almost a bit metallic. Taste is actually pretty good on this one. Initially a bit of toasted malts coming through and a slight bitter finish. The flavor is very crisp. Mouthfeel is good as well and relatively medium to full bodied. This is the first of the sampler pack Ive reviewed which I would say I would be glad to drink more of.

A 32 ounce growler, poured a dark brown with a fairly thick coffee-colored head. It had a sweet, roasted grain odor, and tasted the same, with some hops. Rather nondescript taste. Mouthfeel was a little thin. An OK beer, but not one that I'd want to drink a lot of

It pours a dark reddish brown with a big creamy tan head. The head makes nice lace that slowly slides down the sides of the glass. Its aroma is sweet with roasted malts and caramel. The flavors of the dark roasted malts and caramel dance on the tongue as nice bitter notes slide in from the sides to finish slowly with a light bitterness. It has a smooth and creamy palate with soft carbonation that sets you up for anther sip.

Presentation: 12 oz. long neck with a dark blue label that shows a Central European forest scene. On the neck it states about using five different hop varieties and slow kilned malts." No freshness date to be found.

Appearance: Dark ruby in colour with a light tan lace that sticks in patches.

Taste: Rich creamy caramel with a smooth almost syrup like mouth feel. Alcohol and hint of ripe fruit push their way to the tongue. Hop bitterness is in the back with a subdued hop leaf flavour that lingers.

Notes: Too few Schwarzbiers out on the market, this is the one to drink. Very drinkable and very enjoyable, top shelf.

My 3rd bottle out of the 2003, 12 beer sampler box. Pours a rich dark mahogany with garnet hues around the edges of the pint glass. Beige head is decent enough and hangs around long enough to leave some delicate lacing. Nose is surprisingly impressive, chocolate malt, dark fruit, and some floral hops. Mouthfeel is pleasantly well balanced. Taste is complex, with hints of rye bread, chocolate malt, and currants. A likeable speciman here. Exceeded my expectations for a brewery that puts so many styles in one box.

Sampled a 12 ouncer that came in the holiday 12 pack, no freshness dating to be found. Pours dark brown, tan head, minimal lacing and just a faint coffee nose. Cant say I'm overly impressed with this one, why do so many of the dark beers from Saranac taste so similar?? Seems they put a differant label on about 8 beers, but the contents all are so similar. Drinkable, middle of the road stuff, but nothing to seek out.

Second from my Saranac Adirondack sampler pack brought back from Syracuse.

Poured into a dimpled pint jug, and enjoyed on the first warm patio day of the spring! A nice dark chestnut brew with a little ruby hints around the edges. Leaves a thin off-white head which survives as a thin ring.

The nose is quite delectable - caramel, cream, chocolate, a bit of brown bread. Sweet, but very pleasant.

A tasty brew, sweet and malty with notes of caramel and cream, but finishes with a slight grassy hop bitterness and pumpernickel character. Tastes dark enough, but is sweet enough to work well together. I'm quite enjoying this, actually.

Thin-bodied, reminds me in colour and texture of a bottle of rootbeer that was opened about 20 minutes ago. A bit syrupy - my only real complaint with the brew.

A nice brew - I was initially unimpressed with their IPA, so this was a nice pick-me-up. Sweet, bready, but not oppressively so, meaning this would be a nice session brew for the evening (low ABV, good flavor). Quite nice.

Ruby red almost brown.a very creamy tan head lacing and clinging onto the sides of the glass.
The aroma was extra clean,citrusy,fruity,nutty,caramelly a hint of chocolate.Oh so inviting.
A clean,fresh taste thats citrusy,carmelly,nutty and chocolatly. A perfect balance and very delicious ta boot.
A light to medium mouthfeel,a pleasing bitterness that glides down so very easy. The word juicy keeps coming to mind,if you drink this I think you will know what I mean.
A drinkable as a dark beer could be.So refreshing,the only bad thing about this review was that I only had 1 bottle to review.
I will buy this beer again!

Pours a dark black/brown with some light ruby/mahogany color to it when it's up to the light, almost no head except for some light brown lacing. Nose is malty, light wheat and a bit of sweet german yeast smell.

Well, the mouthfeel is a bit light, there isn't much bitterness at all, and the flavors are a bit dull. It's not bad at all, but it's not outstanding in any way. Theres some very light roastiness and a bit iron flavor to it, but it's just 'meh' to me.

again with the sweet sweet, slightly roasted malts. lots of dark dried fruit such as raisons and prunes. herbal, floral hops, slight hop bitterness at the finish. nothing too spectacular, but a nice tasting brew.

decent feel, you can definatly tell its a lager, light body, a little astringent at times. carbonation feels ok.

this one is definatly an easy drinker, great session beer, exspecailly for the low price. all around a pretty decent swarzbier, i wouldnt go out of my way, but if i came across this, i would drink it again.